Happy birthday to the Capricorns, Aquarians and Pisces
Jayda Musson 16 January Justice Arahanga Pryor 17 January Aaron Koro Tamou Taylor 19 January Te Awhina Arahanga 20 January Te Rangikahu Tamou 20 January Tuatini Te Waiho Arahanga 24 January Sally Nutira 28 January Manaia Te Kowhai Kuiini Tomairanga Arahanga-Pryor 31 January.
Millie Hill-Taiaroa 5 February Rulon Nutira 11 February Fiona Sloan 13 February Hitaua Arahanga Doyle 13 February Kanakope Riria Te Rangimarie Arahanga 8 February Te Rangimarie Warena Tamou 24 February.
Celebrations
Wedding celebrations
Congratulations to Thomas Hill-Taiaroa (Teihoka whānau – great grandson of Lena Sheehan) for being awarded Proxime Accessit at Kaiapoi High School and gaining an excellence endorsement in level 3 English, merit endorsement in level 3 History and a NCEA level 3 merit overall. He is studying Law at the University of Canterbury this year.
The Taumutu whānau have and will always have a very close connection to the Smith whānau. It was a complete pleasure that many friends and family returned to Taumutu to share the wedding of Clem and Alex in January. It was a heartfelt celebration with lots of reminiscing, giggling, love and excitement. Thank you Clem for such a wonderful occasion, we welcome Alex to be part of our Taumutu whānau.
Piwakawaka – fantail facts
There are about 10 sub-species of fantail, three of which live in New Zealand: the North Island fantail, the South Island fantail and the Chatham Islands fantail. Taumutu is one of the few places in New Zealand where you can find black pīwakawaka.
Both adults incubate eggs for about 14 days and the chicks fledge at about 13 days. Both adults will feed the young, but as soon as the female starts building the next nest the male takes over the role of feeding the previous brood. Young are fed about every 10 minutes – about 100 times per day!
Fantails use their broad tails to change direction quickly while hunting for insects. They sometimes hop around upside-down amongst tree ferns and foliage to pick insects from the underside of leaves. Their main prey are moths, flies, spiders, wasps, and beetles, although they sometimes also eat fruit. They rarely feed on the ground. The fantail lifespan is relatively short in New Zealand (the oldest bird recorded here was three-years-old, although in Australia they have been recorded up to 10 years). Fantails stay in pairs all year but high mortality means that they seldom survive more than one season. The success of the species is largely due to the fantail’s prolific and early breeding. Juvenile males can start breeding between 2–9 months old, and females can lay as many as five clutches in one season, with between 2–5 eggs per clutch. Fantail populations fluctuate greatly from year to year, especially when winters are prolonged or severe storms hit in spring. However, since they are prolific breeders, they are able to spring back quickly after such events.
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